Malaysia welcomes UN resolution on Jerusalem

The results of a vote are posted in the General Assembly, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, at United Nations headquarters.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia welcomes the adoption of the resolution on Jerusalem made at the United Nations General Assembly Emergency Special Session on Thursday.

"Malaysia joins the international community in expressing our deep concern over any attempt to alter the character, status and demographic composition of Jerusalem" said the Foreign Ministry in a statement on Friday.

"Malaysia continues to believe that a two-state solution, where the Palestinians and the Israelis live side by side in peace, based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, is the only viable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," it said.

Malaysia co-sponsored and voted in favour of the resolution in line with its long-standing and unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.

The resolution expressed deep regret over the recent decision concerning the status of Jerusalem and stressed that the final status of the holy city must be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant United Nations resolutions.

At the United Nations building in New York on Thursday, Malaysia joined 127 other countries to vote in favour of a UN resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Nine countries voted against the resolution while 35 others abstained.

This came despite President Donald Trump's threat to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favour of the resolution.

"Malaysia joins the international community in expressing our deep concern and rejects the decision by the United States to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," said Malaysia's permanent representative to the UN, Datuk Seri Mohd Shahrul Ikram Yaakob during the session.

"It is also an infringement of the Palestinian people's rights and their right to self-determination," he said at the 37th plenary meeting of the 10th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly, which was entitled "Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory".